


Elmer in the Refuge

by Elmer



Category: Newsies (1992), Newsies - All Media Types, Newsies!: the Musical - Fierstein/Menken
Genre: No Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-25
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2020-07-19 08:34:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,348
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19971115
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elmer/pseuds/Elmer





	1. Chapter 1

Elmer was cold.   
He gave up his section of the bed so the two other boys he was sharing with would have more room, and he’d let them keep the thicker of the two blankets. 

He knew he that it would probably him sick, but... he would’ve felt guilty if he’d kept it all to himself... 

In HIS defense, he was 12 years old, so it was his job to protect the younger kids! 

He took a shaky breath, wishing that one of his brother’s faces would appear from behind the dirty window and bust him out, but he wouldn’t want them to risk their own freedom. 

Soon enough he would be back in his bunk, back in the Lodging House, begging to play poker with the bigger boys. In fact, Race was the best poker player he knew! 

The thought of his fearless older brother made him smile. 

His shoulders then drooped as he let out a long sigh. If Race were here, he would’ve slapped Elmer upside the head for not taking better care of himself, but underneath it all, he probably still would’ve been proud of him for trying to be selfless. 

The thought made him smile again, but it soon fell when he heard heavy footsteps approaching their room. 

Elmer muttered something in Polish that DEFINITELY would’ve earned him a smack when he saw Snyder’s heavy black boots outside the door. He stood up as well as he could on his shaky legs, clenching his jaw. 

He wouldn’t let him touch the little ones! 

The door burst open, Snyder striding in. 

Elmer’s heart pounded, he could feel himself trembling, and at the sight of the skinny boy trying to shield the other sleeping boys, Snyder laughed. 

“Oh, so NOW you can fight back!” He sneered, shoving Elmer aside. At that, Elmer jumped right back in front of the bed, Snyder slapping him so hard that he saw stars. 

But he held his ground. 

“Fine. You want a beating? You’ll damned well get one.” Snyder growled, shoving Elmer on to the ground. 

Elmer gasped as he felt Snyder’s boots connect with his ribs and his face, feeling blood gush from his nose. He felt his drip down his face, into his mouth as Snyder kicked him in the stomach so hard, he felt bile rise up in his throat. 

He retched as Snyder laughed, grabbing him by his shirt collar. 

“You want more? Or are you ready to let the other boys have some?” 

If Race could’ve seen Elmer’s answer, he would’ve killed him.


	2. Chapter 2

Race lit a cigar, sitting outside the Lodging House. It had been two weeks since Elmer had been in the Refuge, and it was all his fault. If he hadn’t yelled at him, if he hadn’t stormed off... his little brother wouldn’t be in this mess.

_"Elmer, how many papes did you sell?” The younger boy looked at his shoes and mumbled his answer. “What?” Race was already annoyed. He was cold, tired, and he hadn’t had anything to eat since yesterday morning. Elmer met Race’s eyes sheepishly. “Seven.” “Out of how many?” “Forty.” “FORTY? We’ve been out here since six! How much money do ya have?” Elmer bit his lip and held out five pennies and a nickel. How the HELL was that supposed to add up? “AND ya let ‘em rip you off??” Race knew that there was no way that this could be helped, but once he was angry he couldn’t stop. Elmer glared. “I’m trying okay??? You know I’m not good at selling papes!!!” And with that, he turned on his heel and walked off. Hours later, Elmer still hadn’t come back to the Lodging House and Race was beginning to worry. Unable to take it anymore, he began to look for him, hoping that he’d just stopped to buy a roll, or was selling more papes or something. He looked and looked for hours on end until the sun came up, but nothing. By now, his breathing was panicked and shallow. There was only once place that Elmer could be at this hour, but he refused to accept it and kept searching. Suddenly there was a tap on his shoulder, and he spun around to face Spot Conlon. “Have you seen-“ “Refuge.” Race felt his eyes widen, his stomach drop. The Refuge. He knew it. All of a sudden, all of the tension he’d been holding in exploded as he grabbed Spot’s shoulders. “You didn’t DO anything?? You saw him and you didn’t save him???” “He was being dragged in as I was walkin’ past. I have a whole BOROUGH to take care of Higgins! I can’t sacrifice that for one kid who ain’t even mine.” Spot shoves Race off, waiting for him to push back, but he was only met with a worried stare. “How did he look?” “How do you think?” The pit in Race’s stomach expanded even more. He didn’t remember how he got back to the Lodging House. All he knew was that his brother was in the Refuge, and it was all his fault._

Race sighed, sitting on the step, watching the sun slowly start to rise. He stared at his cigar, letting it burn down to the stub without smoking a bit of it.


	3. Chapter 3

Elmer’s chest was impossibly tight. Every breath he took was agonizing, every cough set his aching ribs ablaze. 

His vision was hazy, the lines of the room blurred as he tried to sit up. 

When was the last time he’d had anything to eat or drink? The pangs in his stomach and lightheadedness suggested a few days, but he couldn’t be too sure. 

Elmer tried to sit up again, looking at the two other boys. 

Good. No injuries. 

He blinked a few times, slowly letting the ceiling come into focus. 

How long had he been in this room for? The thought made him a little nervous, but he couldn’t let it show when the other boys woke up. In the meantime, while he still had a chance to, he might as well look at his injuries. 

He didn’t want to look, but... he had to. If he wanted to be a big boy, he had to start acting like one. 

He took a shaky breath, unbuttoned his shirt, and almost fainted. 

His torso was black and blue, some areas swollen. A few shallow cuts oozed blood, and clamping his mouth shut was all he could do to keep from yelling. Quickly buttoning his ragged shirt back up, he glanced back at the kids to make sure that they were still asleep. 

Another set of coughs escaped his lips, and he took the sheet from the bed, wrapping it around himself. He felt like he could barely move, but winced as he stretched out to sleep anyway. 

It had only felt like he’d been asleep five minutes before he felt the smack of his body hitting the hard wooden floor. Groggy, but awake, Snyder’s boots slowly came into focus. Elmer’s eyes widened as they drifted back up to Snyder’s face. 

“Get up kid. You’re outta here.” 

Elmer blinked slowly, trying to grasp what he was saying. He could hear him, he wanted to leave, but couldn’t bring himself to move. 

“Did ya hear me? GET UP!” 

Snyder’s boot collided with Elmer’s already injured ribs, his vision tinged with red as the room went out of focus for a moment. 

Slowly, he pulled himself up and trudged out of the room. 

He didn’t know how, but he was outside the Refuge, looking at the dark, dirty windows, unable to fully grasp the concept that this was it. He was free. 

Elmer swayed on his feet, leaning on the building for support, coughing up a storm, nearly blacking out from the pain it caused in his chest.   
He moaned.   
This. Was going to be a long walk.....


	4. Chapter 4

The Lodging House was silent the next night as everyone settled down to sleep. Race tossed and turned, thinking about Elmer. Little Elmer all alone in the Refuge... he squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block it all out with no avail. Was he hurt? Sick? Starving? All three? The thought killed him, and it was all he could do to not run to the Refuge himself and bust him out. 

He didn’t know how, but he suddenly felt very drowsy. And just as he was drifting off for the first time in days, he felt a hand on his shoulder. His eyes creaked open to see Specs’ anxious face above him.   
“What?” He mumbled irritably. First he lost his brother, now he couldn’t even sleep? When he was ACTUALLY tired?   
“It’s- it’s Elmer.”   
Race bolted upright, suddenly wide awake.

Shoving Specs aside, Race sprinted to the next room to find Elmer propped up against the wall. 

With one sweep, Elmer was in Race’s arms, the younger boy burying his head into his shoulder.   
He could feel almost every bone in his small body as he shook uncontrollably. Out of fear or relief, he didn’t know.   
But all that mattered was he was here now. 

“Elmer.... I- I’m so sorry, it’s all my fault I shouldn’t have yelled at you, I....” his voice trailed off as he held his little brother close. 

Four weeks. He’d been locked up for four weeks, and it was all thanks to him... 

“I- I shouldn’t have run away....” Elmer coughed out.   
“Don’t talk. Are ya hurt?”   
“It’s- it’s not so bad...” 

Race gently peeled his arms off of him, realizing that he hadn’t even properly looked at him just yet.   
But when he did, the very sight of him made him want to soak everyone within a ten mile radius. 

Elmer swayed on his feet, Race’s firm grip on his bony, narrow shoulders being the only thing keeping him standing. His face was gaunt, covered in bruises and dried blood. His big brown eyes went in and out of focus before dropping to the floor, his small frame trembling. Elmer then opened his mouth to speak, probably at an attempt reassure his big brother, then doubled over coughing. 

Race then sat him down, holding his arms above his head. The coughs were loud, raw, and much to hard to be a simple head cold. The thought sent spikes of panic shooting through him, but he held it together. He had to. 

Soon enough it was over, and Elmer’s eyelids fluttered as he tried to right his breathing. It was shallow and shaky, but he was breathing.   
“It’s okay El. It’s gonna be okay.” He whispered, trying to stay calm as he unbuttoned Elmer’s ragged, blood-stained shirt to survey any other damage. 

His ribs were more prominent than ever before, and were covered in a plethora of purple splotches, along with a few cuts and scrapes. It didn’t look too bad, but the labored rising and falling of his chest said otherwise. 

“ ‘m okay Race... really......”   
“Not right now you’re not, but don’t worry I’ll patch ya up.” Race replied, reaching for the med kit that Specs was handing him.

He wasn’t too good at the whole first aid thing, but he would try. For Elmer. 

Luckily, there was no immediate bleeding, but he would still have to clean the old wounds. It would still hurt like hell, but thank God they weren’t that deep... 

“Okay, this might sting a little bit, but it’ll feel better right away.” 

Elmer wasn’t totally convinced, but gave a weak nod anyway as Race pulled out the rubbing alcohol, and carefully began to blot at the scrapes on his torso. He bit his lip, the stinging almost unbearable, but he wouldn’t cry out. He didn’t when Snyder was beating him, and he would be damned if he started now. 

Suddenly it was all over, and Race was wrapping clean, cotton bandages over the affected area, and moved on to his face. 

He flinched as Race began to clean the blood and dirt off of his cheeks.   
“No! Please don’t!” He cried out, shielding his face with his arms. 

Although his vision was hazy and blurred, he still caught the flash of pity in Race’s worried blue eyes.  
“Elmer... it’s okay. It’s just me.” 

The broken whisper made him so ashamed, he would’ve gladly gone back to the Refuge. 

However, his shame soon changed to panic when he felt more coughs rising in his throat. 

He really tried not to do it directly on to Race’s hand as he let him clean his face, but it happened anyway as he gasped for air. Just as one bout ended, another started. He doubled over, and soon enough, Race’s steady hands were there, pushing him back up, supporting him as he lifted his arms above his head. 

Once it finally finished, he breathed as deeply, but as carefully as he could. His head fell to the side for a moment. It felt like it weighed a million pounds, his throat felt raw, and it was as if his tongue were made of cotton. His eyes fluttered a moment, his vision darkening around the edges. 

“It’s okay El. It’s okay.” Race said, his voice strained with anxiety. 

“Sorry....” he mumbled, remembering that his germs were now all over Race’s hands. 

“Don’t worry about it kid.” The older boy said, rinsing them with the rubbing alcohol, and gently lifting Elmer up. 

Now that the panic had faded, Elmer realized how much it actually hurt to breathe. But what could be done about it? He took another shallow breath, leaning his head on to Race’s chest as he squeezed his eyes shut. 

Could he lay down now? 

But before he knew it, he was tucked into Race’s bunk, his big brother seated next to him, fluffing a pillow under his head. 

Elmer blinked slowly, wincing as he took another breath. Opening his mouth, he tried to insist that Race share with him, but the older boy shook his head. 

“Shh, it’s okay El. Get some sleep.” 

Elmer barely had time to nod before his eyes fell shut.


End file.
